Applications for the Erasmus+ programme opened on Friday, meaning that students all across the European Union can apply to take part in the student exchange programme which could see them take advantage of educational experiences overseas.

The Erasmus – which stands for European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students – programme was established in 1987 and has seen over 10 million participants since.

Peter Agius, an official with the European Commission, speaking to this newsroom, said that Malta needs to encourage its youths to open up to the world and increase their participation in these programmes.

“Malta has a participation rate of 1 in 20 in Erasmus study & traineeships. We must do better. We must open up more to the world. Recently we saw the younger generation rising up in anger to the abuse of our democracy. Abusive regimes benefit from an introvert society. Let us not afford them that advantage”, Agius said.

“Erasmus is a great European success story, celebrating 10 million placements this year”, he said.

“More than 5,000 Maltese benefited so far. The European Parliament will push to treble EU budget for Erasmus for the next 7 years. We must get ready & treble our participation, raising more awareness of Erasmus benefits, making it a Maltese cultural sine qua non and enhancing our administrative capacity to keep up with that at University and MCAST”, he concluded.

The applications opened on the same day as the United Kingdom finally departed from the European Union, but despite Brexit finally happening, it will not have an immediate effect on Erasmus placements.

A notice issued by the University of Malta last week said that the UK National Office had indicated that under the terms of the UK’s withdrawal agreement they will continue to participate fully in the programme.

In fact, all successful applicants for the 2020 scholastic year will be able to collaborate with the UK in full, and UM students and staff will be able to apply for funding to proceed with Erasmus+ mobility during the 2020/21 academic year as well.